24/7 SDW Linear Ride

Paul has been suffering a lack of confidence lately plus he does get worried about getting lost but by telling him we would do the ‘linear ride’ which involves following the SDW for 15 miles before telling round and going back I managed to persuade him to come out with myself and Jamie S

This ride starts at Butts brow car park. This is really convenient for Jamie as he only lives round the corner but myself and Paul had to drive to Butts lane. Being too tight to pay the car park fee, we had to park up the bottom and ride all the way up what must be the hardest hill in the whole of Sussex?
Without Malc there, nobody argued with my choice of the smooth grassy slope down to Jevington rather than the bone breaking rocky descent.

Safely over the firing range before the shooting starts

After climbing up and over the long man we arrived at Alfriston. Alfriston is the ‘hub’ for many rides on the Eastern Downs. There is a choice of four routes to proceed West from here. Today we opted for the hardest route of all which is to head directly up to the downs over a wide track passing through a firing range. We were alarmed to see a sign on the gate warning people that shooting was taking place today but fortunately some people carrying guns turned up and informed as the shooting would not commence for another 30 mins, so we should be OK! With that thought in our heads we processed on with a bit more vigor. Up to this point I had felt a bit jaded but knew if I lost momentum on this climb I would have great difficulty clipping back into my look road pedals and would then have to resort to walking up on road cleats. Much to my satisfaction I made it up there first and had plenty of time to photograph Jamie coming up the climb.

Perfect undulating riding on the SDW took us to our furthest western point of Swanborough hill. To make the ride feel like more of a circular I had plotted a route directly off the downs and on the road around Itford. I had no idea what the track off the SDW would be like and was imagining a tricky rubbly decent. With great delight the track turned out to be fully paved so even someone with my terrible bike handling skills could enjoy this supper steep descent. My brakes pads were not enjoying  it though and Jamie ended up inhaling a cloud of burning brake pad fumes at the bottom.

Before facing the notorious climb of Itford hill we had time for food and coffee at the rather lovely NT tea rooms .
Suitably refreshed we tackled the notorious Itford climb with renewed strength and I didn’t find it too bad although our joy was tempered by the knowledge that there was a lot more serious climbing to get through before we were back at Butts brow.

Jamie's legs pay the price of his SDW radonee epic

I don’t know why Paul suffers a lack of confidence as he was clearly the strongest of us and led us all the way back taking us over the longman by a shorter more direct route which I preferred over the chalky rubble strewn path we normally use. Still in recovery mode from his epic 100 mile SDW in a day  last weekend, Jamie was struggling by now and had to walk up part of this new route and decided to break away on the road once we got to jevington.

One of the best things about Butts brow is the pub at the bottom. They make the best chips I have ever tasted and provide a generous bowlful for just £2. As usual Paul was itching to get home but as the driver I insisted on getting some. Having woofed his down in a couple of minutes I then had to keep mine on my lap to avoid those ending up in Pauls belly as well.


It just goes to show that sometime a simple route provides just as much enjoyment as a more complicated ride (plus there is the promise of those chips!)

Steve C